Davino to Ohio State
- Thread starter js8793
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Ohio State killing us twice lately, first Mendez and now Davino.
How TF do we keep losing out to OHIO STATE in recruiting?!
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He says as Iowa signs the clear #1 class. Sit down and shut up you imbecile
Wouldn't count kueter. Anything we get out of him is a bonus in my pessimistic view.
The only significant reason I can see is $$$$$$. That’s not our coaches fault. Not a coincidence Ohio State signed last years amazing class shortly after NIL started.
They, like PSU, can now give the money legally. I can see a few other good reasons one would choose PSU wrestling program other than $, but can’t see any other reason to choose osu wrestling over iowa
Can't Iowa give money legally?
No school can give money. It's all just laundered through collectives/clubs etc.
Yes because every top recruit that doesn’t go to Penn State always goes to Iowa according to your logic or something doesn’t make sense with that recruit..
Iowa won't be able to compete $NIL$ wise with PSU and OSU but they won't be that far behind. Wrestling isn't like Football and Basketball. To counter it Iowa needs to go all out with the new facility and the HWC. Show that Iowa has the best facility to train and develop within. Iowa already has the best match atmosphere and best fanbase in the sport.
You seem to post a lot about the money other programs have. You do realize that Iowa Wrestling isn't doing too bad here right?
OSU has a spot at 125 where he could slide in. Ayala has 3 years of eligibility left at 125. You don't think that could be a significant reason?
No.
We need a 125/133. Davino wrestled 126 with a year left in high school. He's likely a 133 (which we need).
Out of Davino, Kilkeary and Bouzakis, someone, in 2 years is riding the pine. Good problem for the bucks.
Maybe, maybe not. Sounded like our plan was going to be insert Jesuroga at 125 and move Ayala up which opens 125 here too. I'm pretty sure people even said during the recruitment of Jesuroga that Ayala had said he would not stay long term at 125.
Now possibly there is a change in opinion on how long Ayala will hold 125, maybe he can buy them enough time to push back the need for a blue chip 125.
As it currently stands Ayala will have to hold it for 2 years to allow a 24 class recruit to redshirt, that's basically Davino and Lilledahl at this point. You move to the 25 class (Desmond, Mutarelli, Blaze, Knox) and Ayala either finishes as 125 in his last year or you start a true freshman plus we don't have an AA level 133 in house and 133 seems to have less high end options. I guess if Ayala held 125 the whole time we could do a true freshman Bassett from the 26 class. Possibly Kael Petersen can drop to 125 and surprise with an Ayala move to 133, I believe he is registered at 125 for Junior Nationals.
Having Jesuroga in that class was perfect as it allowed both 125/133 to be covered and even left room to bring in a kid like Bassett right behind. Getting Lilledahl and allowing Ayala to fill the 133 hole would seem nice, then get Bassett and move Lilledahl to 133.
I get anxious every time lightweight U actively pursues a lightweight and they miss out.
We have one year left of Teske (a starter I’m not wild about unless he improves) and his backup hasn’t shown to be an AA at this point.
Now we’ve missed on a top 5 recruit, from a neighboring state that we typically recruit very well, at a position of need and historical strength.
Luke lilledahl would be a great fall back but he’s now wrestling in Pennsylvania, and a very good state wrestling university in that state has a dire need at lightweight and seemingly unlimited funds.
Couple this with the fact that we signed the worst Ferrari and didn’t immediately hear news about Angelo signing and I’m beginning to get concerned about our immediate recruiting future.
Someone talk me off the ledge here.
We have one year left of Teske (a starter I’m not wild about unless he improves) and his backup hasn’t shown to be an AA at this point.
Now we’ve missed on a top 5 recruit, from a neighboring state that we typically recruit very well, at a position of need and historical strength.
Luke lilledahl would be a great fall back but he’s now wrestling in Pennsylvania, and a very good state wrestling university in that state has a dire need at lightweight and seemingly unlimited funds.
Couple this with the fact that we signed the worst Ferrari and didn’t immediately hear news about Angelo signing and I’m beginning to get concerned about our immediate recruiting future.
Someone talk me off the ledge here.
We didn't sign any Ferrari so that at least gets you back from the ledge a little.
Not long ago there was a very long thread that contained mostly nonsense, but in the middle of that nonsense there was an instagram post of Anthony Ferrari on his knees with his hands raised, wearing an Iowa singlet, that incorrectly spelled committed above his head.
Call that whatever you want. When that wasn’t immediately followed by Angelo saying Iowa here I come I got a little nervous. Now Davino to Ohio st, and Luke looking like a psu lean. At this point our 125 / 133 cupboard is looking bare.
The Anthony Ferrari Instagram post is just a post at this point. Anyone anywhere can proclaim they are committed to go to a school. I share your 125/133 concerns. From all accounts the staff has known Jesuroga was likely a no go since last fall so planning should have been done. Hopefully it has and we just don't know yet.
Angelo is still taking his visits, I wouldn't worry about him too much yet. My guess is the Ferrari's would each like their own '5 minutes of fame' so to speak for their commitments and not to be lumped in together as a big bundle, even if ultimately all 3 end up here.
I am also worried about the future lightweight situation. But to be honest, I won't feel as bad if we land the Ferrari's, the middle and upperweights will be filled with elite talent. I echo the above sentiments that hopefully there are lightweight plans in motion we are not privy too.
I am also worried about the future lightweight situation. But to be honest, I won't feel as bad if we land the Ferrari's, the middle and upperweights will be filled with elite talent. I echo the above sentiments that hopefully there are lightweight plans in motion we are not privy too.
That is largely because they have no one ranked at 149 right now. Between Chittum and Rathjen, there are quite a few points there to be had. 4th place, without bonus from this weight alone would put them in 2nd place, without changing anyone else. Needless to say, they still aren't catching PSU, but they are still in a good spot to take 2nd.
Here is the current FLO Iowa rankings:
125: Ayala 11th
133: Teske 14th
141: Woods 2nd
149: NR
157: Siebrecht 15th
165: PK 9th
174: Brand 4th
184: Assad 12th
197: NR
285: Cass 3rd
197 is next year's 157. Can they get someone to perform considerably past expectations like Siebrecht, but more importantly, stay HEALTHY? Points from 197 could be a difference maker for 2nd. Short of a couple monster transfers, I just don't see them coming any closer to PSU than they did this year...
Yea let’s be worried about what Flo thinks. Flo also had Nebraska tied in 2nd with us when we bitch slapped them in Carver. And Nebraska finished in 8th place with a little more than half our points (with Spencer taking 6th).
IMO the 2024 recruiting class will be the litmus test to determine whether we’ve made changes in our approach and execution when it comes to recruiting. Our 2023 class is good (conservative with calling it great due to Keuter being on the fence), but if we really want to compete with Penn State year in and year out, or multiple times over a 4 year period consistently then we’re gonna have to stack back to back classes with each other, and 2024 is the chance to prove that. Otherwise, we’ll have to accept that we’re a program that is on the podium every year and has 1, maybe 2 year window where we can compete before reloading.
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Forgive me for looking through black and gold glasses, thinking that the Iowa wrestling program is superior to and has much better tradition and reputation than Ohio State, especially with development of light weights. As others have said, we also have a big opening for him with jesaroga quiting wrestling, and we a closer to his home also, if that means anything to him or his family. Sure we have NIL, but your nuts if you think we can line up more money for a kid than PSU, Michigan, Ohio State, and so on.
Why can't you? You have a bigger fan base than all of them except maybe Penn State (and I think most on this board would say larger than Penn State too). So what can the other schools you list do that Iowa cannot?
Michigan and Ohio State have huge number of alumni that are wealthy and more that happy to give whatever it takes to succeed. Did that before NiL deals, now is just easier to legally funnel their money to athletes. Remember several years ago, an Ohio State quarterback from poor family was seen driving around in a six figure sports car.
It isn't so much the Iowa wrestling fan base vs. the tOSU wrestling fan base. It is the entire Athletic Departments vs. each other. Mind you, tOSU is arguably the biggest name for overall college sports that still has wrestling. Michigan could probably be argued as such, but they never had the all in focus on wrestling success that Ryan has cultivated at tOSU.
When people act surprised that Davino would want to go to tOSU over Iowa, they clearly miss out that the school name has more recognition than solely wrestling. Football recognition is what gets the overall attention from the start. tOSU has been the juggernaught for the B1G for a long time and was the ONLY one challenging for NCAA Titles for the past 25 years. Even with Michigan finally making a run, they still fall woefully short once they hit the playoffs.
Even though it is a completely different sport, you just can't ignore the power and influence the entire Athletic Department has due to those benefits...
Mind you, I would also argue that PSU's overall Athletic Department is also bigger and stronger than Iowa as a whole. Not many programs would have been able to survive the Sandusky scandal, let alone come back thriving as fast as PSU did. Imagine what they would be like if that didn't happen!
I think you have to take these things into consideration, as well as any potential "cultural" factors. Like it or not, there is a segment of the population whose mind immediately goes to Cornfields and Country life when thinking of Iowa. Frankly, I don't really notice much difference at all between life in the various midwest states (not that I would be the authority to discern any difference). But perception is reality.
None of the above factors are insurmountable by any means, but I think they could absolutely play a role - especially when it's Iowa vs (competitor), and it seems like Iowa is the obvious wrestling fit. Overall athletic department power, National University prestige (outside of wrestling), Cultural perceptions, friends/family, coaches, academic programs. While in some cases, it probably does come right down to $$$. We can't ignore the other potential reasons. The good news is that is seems a lot of the negative misconceptions about Iowa are usually erased by people actually taking a visit and spending time with the team.
Agreed. Also, for clarity, my points were not only to show the differences in actual power relative to these schools, but to show why it is almost certainly easier for those schools to generate considerably more NIL sources than Iowa.
You also made a good point about the "cultural" factors. I didn't even account for "campus life" or "location". Iowa not having an "A" league professional sports team across Football, Baseball, Basketball and Hockey is crazy and not a thing to be ignored. Now, Iowa wrestling absolutely benefits from this by almost certainly garnering a much larger following than if fans had the choice to go watch these other sports instead. Still, it can be a factor for recruits across all sports...
